Phillies Smack Paul Skenes For Second Time This Season in Win Over Pirates
Jul 1, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner (7) reacts as he runs the bases on a three RBI home run during the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Do the Phillies have Paul Skenes‘ number?
2026 has not been a great year for Paul Skenes in Pittsburgh, as the third-year right-hander has gotten off to a rough first half. In 17 starts, Skenes has posted a 3.10 ERA with a 6-7 record and hasn’t recorded a win in his last eight starts.
Now, not all of those games have been his fault, as the Pirates’ offense and bullpen have cost Skenes many of them, but since his May 17th outing against the Phillies, the reigning Cy Young has not been the same pitcher.
In that start back in May, Skenes allowed five runs on six hits through five innings, and while he struck out seven and walked just one, a Bryce Harper home run in the fifth inning of that game opened the floodgates for the recent downturn from Skenes.
So, still without a win in nearly two months, Skenes took the mound in Philadelphia for the second time in his career, going against a fellow National League ace, Zack Wheeler, for the second time this year. Wheeler and Skenes have been two of the best pitchers in the league over the past few seasons, with last year’s Cy Young being a tight battle between the two and fellow Phillie Cristopher Sanchez. However, Wheeler’s blood clot injury back in August ended his Cy Young campaign, with Skenes running away with the award.
With the two set for battle, what was expected to be a pitcher’s duel turned into an offensive slugfest for the Phillies, and a solid but disappointing ending for Wheeler in a 10-6 Phillies win. Both starters settled in through the first inning, each working around a walk, but the bottom of the second saw the Phillies offense go after Skenes.
Alec Bohm was hit by a pitch, Bryson Stott singled to right, and Gabriel Rincones Jr. walked, loading the bases for Skenes with just one out. Justin Crawford then smacked a grounder to third, and Pirates Nick Gonzales hit Bohm trying to get him out on a force at home, allowing him and Stott to score for the first two Phillies runs.
Now with the lead, Phillies leadoff man Trea Turner elected to continue the onslaught against Skenes, launching a three-run bomb into the left field seats for his third straight game with a home run.
Turner has been on fire over the past two weeks, hitting .351 following this home run over his last 14 games. With Skenes’ pitch count getting high, the Phillies had an opportunity to run away with this game, but unfortunately, their starting pitcher ran into some trouble.
Henry Davis led off the top of the third with a solo home run to left for the Pirates’ first run of the night. A single and stolen base from Konnor Griffin put a runner in scoring position for Bryan Reynolds, and he smacked a ball to left for an RBI single, making it 5-2. Following the single, Wheeler was able to lock back in, picking up back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the inning.
Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh, who is days away from likely being named to his first All-Star Game as the starting left fielder, decided to join in on the fun, smoking a 1-0 slider into the right field seats for a solo home run.
This solo shot was the 15th of the season by Marsh, putting him on pace for 28 home runs this season. His career-high for homers in a season is 16.
An inning after the Marsh bomb, the Phillies continued their threat against Skenes in the fourth. Singles from Rincones and Turner put two on for Harper, who added to the Phillies’ lead with a double under the glove of Pirates left fielder Tyler Callihan, bringing in two more runs, making it eight total runs and seven earned runs allowed by Skenes.
Heading into the game, Skenes’ career-high runs allowed were five, and the Phillies put up eight of them in less than four innings of work. Skenes was pulled following the rough fourth inning, marking the first time the righty didn’t make it to the fifth inning since April.
Up by six runs, Wheeler was up to nine strikeouts heading into the fifth and picked up No. 10 early in the inning. However, disaster came for Wheeler in terms of three consecutive singles for another Pirates run, and with over 100 pitches, Don Mattingly elected to go to his bullpen, ending Wheeler’s night at 4.2 innings of work. With Wheeler not making it out of the fifth, that ended his streak of 53 consecutive regular-season starts with at least five innings pitched, a streak that dated back to June 22, 2024
Kyle Backhus came on in relief for Wheeler with two runners on and, on back-to-back pitches, hit two consecutive Pirates, bringing in another run. Thankfully, Backhus was able to strike out Davis to end the inning.
Now leading by four, the Phillies’ offense went on a bit of a dry spell for two innings, and the Pirates’ offense took advantage of the Phillies’ bullpen working overtime due to the short Wheeler start. Seth Johnson was in the seventh, and after back-to-back walks, Jared Triolo doubled, making it a two-run game.
Orion Kerkering came on to clean up Johnson’s mess and executed a perfect eighth inning, setting up a potential save opportunity for Jhoan Duran. However, Bohm elected to add some run support in the bottom of the eighth, launching their third home run of the night to center field for a two-run shot, making it once again a four-run game.
While the ninth was no longer a save opportunity, Mattingly elected to let Duran end the night. A pair of groundouts gave the Phillies two early outs, and after an infield single from Jake Mangum, Duran sent Triolo down on strikes to end the night, with the Phillies pulling out the 10-6 victory.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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